Woodlawn Middle

Woodlawn Middle is a public school in Mebane, NC, serving 633 students in grades 6–8 within the Alamance-Burlington Schools district. Once a top-quartile school — ranking in the 78th percentile statewide in 2015-2016 — Woodlawn has declined steadily over the past decade. Its 2025-2026 state rank of 612th out of 778 middle schools places it in the 21st percentile with a 1-star rating. Proficiency now trails both district and state averages in nearly every subject and grade. In 7th grade math, for instance, 36.5% of Woodlawn students are proficient compared to 56.2% statewide, and only 37.6% are proficient in 8th grade reading versus 56.1% across North Carolina.

Several challenges help explain the slide. The share of Woodlawn students from low-income families has jumped sharply — from about 53% in 2022-2023 to essentially 100% today — and chronic absenteeism sits at 31.4%, well above the state rate of 24.2%. Woodlawn also has the highest student-teacher ratio (19.7) of any nearby middle school, meaning fewer teachers per student. Despite these hurdles, science is a relative bright spot: 8th grade science proficiency is 55.7%, and while still below the state's 68.6%, the gap is smaller than those seen in math and reading.

The comparison to nearby schools is revealing. Just 3.7 miles away, Hawfields Middle — also in the Alamance-Burlington district — ranks in the 80th percentile and posts much higher scores, including 78.9% proficiency in 7th grade math, while serving a far smaller share of low-income students. Yet Woodlawn is not the weakest among its high-poverty peers; it outperforms Graham Middle and Broadview Middle in several subjects and is comparable to Turrentine Middle. Nearby districts like Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools spend thousands more per student, underscoring the resource gap. Families should know that Woodlawn's current rating reflects deep structural challenges rather than a lack of effort from its students and staff.